CHP employee booked on suspicion of embezzlement

A non-uniformed California Highway Patrol employee was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement after an internal review by the CHP.

Bijan Azar, 63, was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement by a public officer, grand theft, and unlawful use of personal identifying information.

A CHP news release of his arrest said that information discovered during a recent internal review indicated that a CHP employee may have committed embezzlement or fraud. The release stated that the CHP has in place systems to periodically perform inspections and self-audits.

Information discovered during the recent review led the CHP to investigate the theft of state funds. Investigators believed that evidence indicated an employee was diverting state money into a private bank account.

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The account was frozen and on Tuesday investigators conducted searches at Azar’s Vacaville home and work space. Azar is a senior accounting officer at CHP headquarters in Sacramento.

He was taken into custody and booked into Sacramento County Jail. The news release said that evidence found at Azar’s home linked him to the bank account that had stolen state funds.

Further details of the alleged embezzlement were not released from the CHP.

Spokeswoman Fran Clader said in an e-mail that she wanted “to underscore the fact that CHP discovered the activity, investigated it and made the arrest.

“I can say also that the CHP is disappointed in the sequence of events involving this person, but glad that the internal systems we have in place allowed us to detect the alleged criminal offenses being conducted.”